Simon Usborne: We all bear the cost of bad Tarmac

The worst potholes I have encountered punctuated a 65-mile cycle around the Chilterns in February. The number was definitely greater than the average figure included in the Alarm report.

It wasn't so much the jarring of the wrists that caused me the greatest pain, but the tortured squeals I could almost hear coming from my costly wheels and front forks.

It's the same story on my commute across south London. Some stretches have been ignored for years. Accidents happen – Warren Peter broke his jaw and nose after being flung off his bicycle by a five-inch deep pothole in West Sussex.

Last year, the AA suggested our roads were so bad that many councils were paying more in compensation for damage and injuries caused by potholes than they were on repairing them. They've dug themselves into a giant hole and it's time they started filling it. Meanwhile, complain and report the holes at FillThatHole.org.uk.